Русский | 'DECR Communication Service MP', January 24, 2005
Memorial to Chinese Martyrs
is being restored in Beijing
English Translation by Nina Tkachuk Dimas

On the territory of Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Chinese People's Republic where the Russian Spiritual Mission in China was earlier located, work is presently being carried out to restore the historical heritage of the Mission, which laid the foundation for and development of Russian-Chinese relations.

Within the framework of this program, a monument has been partially restored, a monument which was placed earlier at the site where Orthodox Chinese were martyred at the hands of the participants in a revolt in the nationalist movement of Yìhétuán (义和团). The bodies of many martyrs had been thrown down an ancient well on the territory of the Russian Spiritual Mission.

In 1902 the Russian Orthodox Church glorified 222 Chinese martyrs as locally venerated saints (commemorated on June 11/24). The Mission's temple in honour of all the Holy Martyrs where the relics of the passion-bearers lay, as well as a monument at the site of their martyrdom, had been destroyed after the Mission's activity ceased.

On January 24, 2005 a marble slab, with an aperture representing a stylized well, was set up on a pedestal in the park of the Russian Embassy in Beijing, near the initial burial site of the martyrs.